In Minnesota, Alleged $250 Million Feeding Embezzlement Scheme, Aimee Bock Was Also Victim, Lawyer Says

By Milton Allimadi 

Photos: Video\YouTube Screenshots

Going by the government’s narrative, Aimee Bock—the former leader (shown below) of a Minnesota non-profit organization called Feeding Our Future (FOF), whose trial in the alleged scheme that resulted in the theft of millions of dollars from a federal food program meant to feed children starts Feb. 3—must be one of the wickedest women in that state, if not the U.S. 

Ms. Bock

“Exploiting a government program intended to feed children at the time of a national crisis is the epitome of greed,” said FBI special agent, Justin Campbell, when indictments of scores of individuals were first disclosed in 2022. “As alleged, the defendants charged in this case chose to enrich themselves at the expense of children. Instead of feeding the future, they chose to steal from the future.” 

Even though FOF wasn’t the only organization involved in the program and the alleged scheme, Ms. Bock’s now defunct non-profit even made the headline of the Justice Department’s Sept. 20, 2022 press release: “U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme.”

“These indictments, alleging the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme charged to date, underscore the Department of Justice’s sustained commitment to combating pandemic fraud and holding accountable those who perpetrate it,” the U.S. Attorney General himself, Merrick B. Garland, said at the time.

FBI Director Christopher Wray—who has since resigned, as the Trump administration comes in next week, described the alleged scheme as an “egregious plot to steal public funds meant to care for children in need.” The U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Andrew M. Luger—who also resigned, said, “These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, they prioritized their own greed, stealing more than a quarter of a billion dollars in federal funds to purchase luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and coastal resort property abroad. I commend the work of the skilled investigators and prosecutors who unraveled the lies, deception, and mountains of false documentation to bring this complex case to light.”

One of the site operators, Safari Restaurant and Event Center, allegedly received payments totaling $16 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds in 2020 and 2021, according to a media account.

Charges against the defendants include conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery.

The indictments later grew to a total of 70 people. Two defendants have been acquitted at trial, five have been convicted, 23 pled guilty, and dozens, await trial. Ms. Bock is referred to in some media accounts as the “mastermind.” 

However, to hear it from her lawyer, Kenneth Ubong Udoibok, the federal government has it all wrong. 

Mr. Udoibok

“We were played. The people who were played were my client and the federal government,” he said, in a phone interview.  “My client is charged because the state sang a sweet song of corruption to the federal government and the government bought it,” Mr. Udoibok said. 

He was referring to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), the local entity through which the federal government channels the food program reimbursement funds. The MDE called in the Justice Department as retaliation after Ms. Bock filed a lawsuit in November 2020 alleging discrimination against African immigrant food distributors, whom FOF had sponsored, Mr. Udoibok contends.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney didn’t respond to questions submitted by Black Star News via e-mail message seeking comment about Mr. Udoibok’s claims. MDE didn’t respond to Mr. Udoibok’s claim and several other specific questions submitted to the media contact via e-mail message and also copied to Emily Honer, MDE’s director of Nutrition Program Services (NPS).

MDE spokesperson Anna Kurth provided a short statement that reads: “Thank you for contacting MDE and your patience as we fulfill your request for information regarding trials related to Feeding Our Future. MDE receives many Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGPDA) requests each year. MDE is required by law to carefully review all the data it provides to ensure any sensitive information is redacted in the documents to protect individuals’ private information. This process of fully reviewing the requested data can take anywhere from weeks to months. We have added your request to our queue and will be in touch.”

The federal food distribution network in Minnesota was previously monopolized by European Americans but Ms. Bock upset the system by bringing the African immigrants onboard, Mr. Udoibok said. “This case is about a white woman who opened the doors to minorities,” Mr. Udoibok added. “Doors that were sealed shut in the distribution of food; food that is not racially categorized. Blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, will eat food. The distributors must not be just one group of people.”

“The Minnesota Department of Education which is a state agency authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture to implement this program saw the Africans and rejected them. It is not my client who has the authority to approve these people. She is a sponsor,” the lawyer said.

“Some of the Africans might not have been experienced in distributing food. My client trained them,” Mr. Udoibok added. “Some of the barriers were waived by the federal government. Why? So that more people would get access. It was an opportunity for Africans to be trained to participate. Why is my client prosecuted? She gave the people that some people don’t know access. Did some people commit fraud? Maybe. Of all the investigative reports that I have read, I have not seen even one person say ‘I joined the food program and I gave Aimee Bock a bribe; Aimee Bock asked me to give her a bribe to join the food program.’”

Mr. Udoibok said Ms. Bock’s FOF also sponsored Latino-operated sites—as the locations for the food distribution are referred to—yet none of those were indicted. FOF also sponsored European American and Asian site operators. 

MDE didn’t respond to a question about whether only the sites operated by African immigrants were suspected of fraud or whether the agency also referred other sites—not operated by African immigrants—for investigation by the FBI. Out of the 47 original indictments announced on Sept. 20, 2022, 44 were Somali immigrants and two were Ethiopian immigrants. 

The money allegedly stolen was from a federally-funded food program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The program provides meals to children in need. The USDA works with the states to provide the money for reimbursements to the meal providers. In Minnesota, MDE is the federal government’s local partner. 

In turn, MDE works with non-profit organizations, such as Ms. Bock’s. These non-profits—Ms. Bock’s is just one of many such organizations—then sponsor entities who operate sites where the meals are actually served. 

Some of the African immigrant site operators claim that when the government waived some of the restrictions during the pandemic, they served food to the needy in bulk—groceries—so more people could access food.  

Site operators submit applications to sponsors. These sponsors, like FOF, review them before forwarding them to MDE for final review and approval. Once onboard, site operators purchase and serve the food to those in need and then submit their receipts, and invoices—including a markup for some profit—to the sponsor. The sponsor reviews the information, and forwards the invoices to MDE, who then review them before submitting them to the USDA. Once the sponsor gets the payment from USDA, they withhold 10% to 15% for their administrative cost, then forward the reimbursements to the site operators. 

Mr. Udoibok said FOF had a staff of 68 and some of them reviewed the receipts and invoices. Ms. Bock only got “the invoices and receipts at the end” of the process, and then forwarded them to MDE, he said.

The government alleges that Ms. Bock and and FOF employees took kickbacks to recruit site operators that never should have been enrolled. As a result, Ms. Bock and these site operators unlawfully enriched themselves with millions of dollars. 

FOF opened over 250 sites throughout Minnesota and “fraudulently obtained and disbursed more than $240 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds,” the government alleged. (Elsewhere the amount allegedly stolen is reported as $250 million and in one media report as $244 million). The funds that went through FOF was over a two-year period, according to a media report. Mr. Udoibok countered that Ms. Bock couldn’t have been seeking to enrich herself since she turned down 200 people who wanted FOF to sponsor their applications. 

MDE didn’t respond to a question about whether the site operators indicted served zero meals and simply fabricated all the meal counts, the receipts, and the invoices. MDE also didn’t respond to a question about whether the agency effectively exercised its oversight role to prevent the alleged fraud. 

A former FOF employee, Hadith Ahmed—described in one media account as Ms. Bock’s “right hand man”—claimed “everyone” at the non-profit took bribes. He claimed he himself made about $2 million from kickbacks, during the first trials in connection to the alleged scheme, when he testified in the Spring of 2024. By testifying for the government, Ahmed hopes to get a lenient sentence. 

Mr. Udoibok dismissed Mr. Ahmed’s testimony. “He has pled guilty to numerous kickbacks and extortion,” he said. “The government is working with him. Even he cannot say he gave my client bribes. What he will say is that there is so much money floating around that my client should have known. Well, he was [the one] collecting the bribes.”

As for the bribe allegation against Ms. Bock, the lawyer said it was based on a copy of a $310,000 check from Safari Restaurant made out to his client that was submitted to MDE by a “competing non-profit.” 

Even though he didn’t mention that entity by name, in another media interview, Mr. Udoibok said it was Partners in Quality Care (PiQC). Ms. Bock used to work at PiQC together with its leader, Kara Lomen; the two are described in a media account as once “best friends.” Ms. Bock left in 2018 after a falling out with Ms. Lomen, and started operating FOF in 2019.

A lawyer who previously represented Ms. Lomen didn’t respond to an e-mail message seeking comment. A previous number for Ms. Lomen is out of service. 

Mr. Udoibok said the $310,000 check wasn’t a kickback; that, it was a payment from a co-founder of Safari Restaurant and Events, Abdulkadir Nur Salah—also indicted—for the purchase of a daycare business once operated by Ms. Bock. Safari Restaurant was also enrolled in the food program, through FOF. 

A lawyer for Mr. Nur Salah didn’t respond to an e-mail message seeking comment. 

“Bribery requires some agreement before an official act,” Mr. Udoibok said, in a previous television interview. “The safari restaurant [was] already part of the program. So what’s the bribery for?”

Mr. Udoibok said Ms. Bock’s issues with MDE started when the department delayed approvals of site applications by the African immigrants forwarded by FOF. She then filed a lawsuit against MDE, which in turn stopped submitting payments for invoices submitted by FOF. A judge ruled that MDE hadn’t presented sufficient evidence to warrant a halt on the payments and the state agency voluntarily resumed payments until after the FBI raids and eventually indictments. 

“Once she brought this lawsuit the state of Minnesota was concerned about the penalties. What reason would you be able to give for not following court orders?” Mr. Udoibok said, adding that it was based on the national origin of site operators. “So they called in the federal government.” 

Mr. Udoibok also pointed to what he indicated was selective prosecution.

“In truth there were entities that committed fraud. Most of the people who pled guilty come from the competing non-profit,” he said. “The federal government has sworn testimony that this competing non-profit engaged in more egregious conduct than my client.” He was referring to PiQC. 

“All the people who were convicted and some of the ones who pled guilty are people my client disallowed in the program and notified MDE that these entities may have engaged in fraudulent behavior,” Mr. Udoibok said. “They told my client that they did not have investigative authority.” MDE didn’t respond to a question about this comment by Mr. Udoibok. 

The U.S. Attorney’s spokesperson didn’t respond to a message about why Ms. Bock was indicted while the leader of PiQC, Ms. Lomen, wasn’t. 

Before the indictment, Ms. Bock prepared 75 banker’s boxes of information and invited the Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to come and review the information, Mr. Udoibk said. The Attorney General declined, he said. Several weeks later, the FBI raided multiple locations, including the sponsored sites, and the FOF offices. 

Mr. Udoibok said the U.S. Attorney told him devices seized during the raid would be returned to him and that he was still waiting.

“The government does not want to hear the truth from my client. They want to make her an example,” Mr. Udoibok said. “I really doubt that a jury will find that my client accepted bribes, conspired to submit fraudulent receipts and invoices.”

MDE is reportedly trying to recover millions of dollars that went through FOF to the African immigrant site operators it handled. The agency didn’t respond to a question about whether it was also trying to recover money from PiQC. 

The writer can be contacted via [email protected]